WO2002031911A1

WO2002031911A1 - Cutoff transmission and/or reception antenna

Info

Publication number: WO2002031911A1
Application number: PCT/FR2001/003135
Authority: WO
Inventors: Sébastien MORAND
Original assignee: Ask S.A.
Priority date: 2000-10-11
Filing date: 2001-10-11
Publication date: 2002-04-18
Also published as: MXPA02005654A; JP2004511939A; CA2392769A1; AU2001295679A1; BR0107308A; KR20020062318A; EP1325535A1; IL149777A0; CN1393045A; FR2815176B1; TW543240B; US20060050008A1; FR2815176A1; HK1051935A1; CN1251352C

Abstract

The invention concerns an antenna for transmission and/or reception of electromagnetic waves (10) comprising a wire arranged in a coil in a plane, said coil comprising at least two turns; the antenna is characterised in that it comprises at least a cutoff (12) in order to reduce the capacitance between the turns. Such an antenna is used in a non-contact communication system wherein a reader transmits electromagnetic signals to a portable object (card or ticket) so as to be able to identify the owner of the portable object when the latter transmits back identification signals to said reader.

Description

Cut-off transmission and / or reception antenna

Technical area

The present invention relates generally to antennas for transmitting and / or receiving electromagnetic waves of the spiral type and in particular to a spiral antenna for transmitting and / or receiving with breaks.

STATE OF THE ART In fields where it is necessary to use transmitting / receiving antennas of electromagnetic waves exchanged with a portable object owned by a user, it is increasingly necessary to provide relatively large antennas in order to be able to adapt to the operating volume of the portable object. This is the case in contactless communication technology where the user's portable object is a card or a ticket having an antenna intended to receive electromagnetic signals from a reader and to transmit other electromagnetic signals to the reader to gain access to a controlled access area. The electromagnetic signals allow not only communication between the reader and the portable object but also the remote supply of the portable object by the physical phenomenon of magnetic induction.

There is a tendency to increase the operating volume of the portable object so as to facilitate the passage of the users who no longer have to target a particular area and also in order to easily detect the portable object carried by the user ( in a pocket for example) for the general purpose of detecting fraud and / or controlling entry / exit (in the case of the hands-free portal). This increase in the operating volume has the consequence of increasing the dimensions of the transmitting antenna and increase the operating distance between the transmitting antenna and the portable object. The increase in the operating distance can be achieved by increasing the power supplied to the antenna, but this implies an increase in electrical consumption, but also by increasing the number of turns. Indeed, the radiated magnetic field is proportional to the number of turns when they are traversed by the same current.

However, the increase in the number of turns then implies a parallel capacity between turns due to the capacitive coupling between two parallel turns of the antenna. The greater this capacity, the lower its impedance at a given operating frequency. Consequently, a very large part of the current is dissipated by this capacity instead of flowing through the antenna. In addition, interference occurs by capacitive coupling between the turns, resulting from the phase change when the length of the antenna exceeds a quarter of the wavelength and especially when it approaches half the wavelength. , which occurs when the antenna reaches approximately 11m at the operating frequency of 13.56 MHz currently in use.

Statement of the invention

This is why the object of the invention is to produce a transmitting and / or receiving antenna of the spiral type in which there is no dissipation of the current by the inter-turn capacity whatever the dimensions of the turns of

1 antenna.

The object of the invention is therefore an antenna for transmitting and / or receiving electromaghnetic waves of the type comprising a wire arranged in a spiral in a plane, said spiral comprising at least two turns, this antenna being characterized in that it includes at least one cut of the antenna wire in order to decrease the interspire capacity.

Brief description of the figures The aims, objects and characteristics of the invention will emerge more clearly on reading the following description made with reference to the drawings in which:

- Figure 1 shows a spiral antenna with three turns allowing the implementation of the invention, - Figure 2 shows the electronic circuit equivalent to the antenna illustrated in Figure 1.

FIG. 3 represents the antenna of FIG. 1 in which a cut has been made, FIG. 4 represents the electronic circuit equivalent to the antenna illustrated in FIG. 3,

FIG. 5 diagrammatically represents the strands of the antenna with cutoff intervening in the parallel capacitance of the antenna part situated on one side of the cutoff,

FIG. 6 schematically represents the strands of the antenna with cutoff intervening in the parallel capacitance of the antenna part situated on the other side of the cutoff,

FIG. 7 schematically represents the strands of the antenna with cutoff intervening in the serial capacitance located between the two parts of the antenna, and FIG. 8 represents the series circuit equivalent to the antenna illustrated in FIG. 3.

Detailed description of the invention

The antenna 10 which is illustrated in FIG. 1 can be used as a transmitting antenna in a contactless communication system where each user has a card (or a ticket) also having an antenna. Electromagnetic signals transmitted by the antenna of a reader such as the antenna 10 are picked up by the antenna of the card of the user and the latter retransmits to the antenna 10 other electromagnetic signals containing data allowing access to the user of a zone with controlled access. As explained above, the antenna 10 can have relatively large dimensions and include a large number of turns if it is desired to benefit from a large operating volume. As the antenna 10 can be represented by the electronic circuit of FIG. 2, the parallel capacitance C between the turns becomes very large compared to the self-induction L of the antenna. If ω is the pulsation used (ω = 2πf), the impedance due to the capacitance becomes much less than the inductance of the antenna according to the formula

<L.ω

C.ω

At worst, the antenna itself is short-circuited by the inter-turn capacitance and there is almost no current passing through the antenna. The magnetic field emitted being proportional to the current flowing in the antenna, it is not very important and one then ends up with the opposite result of that which one wanted to obtain.

To overcome this drawback, the parent idea of the invention is to make one or more cuts in the antenna strand. A cut such as the cut 12 made in the antenna illustrated in FIG. 3, is in fact a frank interruption of the antenna strand of several mm and possibly reaching several cm. The electronic circuit equivalent to the antenna comprising a cut-off then becomes the circuit represented in FIG. 4 where the part situated before the cut-off is equivalent to an inductance L1 in parallel with the capacitance inter-turns Cl, and the part located after the cut is equivalent to an inductance L2 in parallel with the capacity inte-turns C2, the two parts being connected by a series capacity C3. Capacities C1, C2 and C3 are due to the capacitive couplings between some of the strands of the antenna as illustrated in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7. Thus, the parallel capacitance Cl, is due to the capacitive coupling between the two strands 14 and 14 'and the parallel capacitance C2 is due to the capacitive coupling between the strands 16' and 16 ", the strands 18 'and 18" and finally the strands 20' and 20 ". As for the serial capacity C3, it is due to the capacitive coupling between the strands 16 and 16 ', the strands 18 and 18', the strands 20 and 20 'and the strands 14' and 14 ". Each cut in the antenna therefore makes it possible to obtain, on both sides of the cut, the couples Li, Ci

^• lower values than the cut L, C of the antenna without cutoff. So at first glance, one might think that the more the number of cuts increases, the more the couples L, C have low values favoring the current in the inductances. In fact, it is wise to provide a number of cuts corresponding to the series resonance of the antenna, which corresponds to the maximum current in the antenna and on the turns. The following example of determining the number of turns will allow a better understanding of the invention.

First of all, it must be understood that the cuts made in the antenna are intended to greatly reduce the values of L and C for each cut L, C, being on one side or the other of a cut. In this case, the impedance due to the capacitance is much higher than the inductance, i.e. in the case of simple breaking:

Llω <- J—. Cleo If ωl is the pulsation corresponding to the resonance of the cell Ll, Cl we have:

ωl ² TJcT ^{and ωl> ω}

Consequently, this cell is equivalent to an inductance of value Lleq

Lleq = ZLL

1 _ (l-Ll.Cl.ω ² ) with + jC.ω either

Zlt j.Ll.ω Zlt j.Llω

so we have Lleq> 0 because ωl> ω

In the same way, we have for cell L2, C2,

L2ω <-

C2ω

If ω2 is the pulsation corresponding to the resonance of cell L2, C2, we have:

ω2 ² =} _ and ω2> ω L2C2

The cell L2, C2 is equivalent to an inductance of value L2eq:

so we have: L2eq> 0 because ω2> ω

Consequently, when the natural resonant frequency of each cell is significantly higher than the frequency of the current passing through the antenna, the current is greater in the turns than that which flows through the inter-turn capacitances. The more this natural resonant frequency of each cell increases, the more the current increases in the turns. This occurs when the number of cuts is increased.

However, too large a number of cuts risks making it impossible to match the equivalent inductance of the antenna with the equivalent breaking capacity of the antenna.

Let N be breaks equally distributed over the antenna, we can then assume that the antenna has been divided into N + l identical cells, ie:

Leql Leq2 = = = .... Leq (N + l)

If Cci is the cut capacity (or serial capacity) of cut i, then we have N identical cut capacities:

Ccl Cc2 = = .... = = CC CcN

If C is the inter-turn capacity of each cell and Cant the total inter-turn capacity of the antenna and assuming as a first approximation, that the cut-off capacity between two cells is equal to the inter-turn capacity of each cell, ie Cc = C, we have:

It can therefore be assumed that the electronic circuit equivalent to the antenna with N equally distributed cuts is that shown in the figure

Leq = (N + l> Leql

Ceq = Ce

N Cant

^" N (2N + 1)

If ω2 is the pulsation corresponding to the series resonance of the antenna shown in figure 8, and if Lant is the total inductance of the antenna we have:

Leq.Ceq.ω = l

(N + l) .Leq

_{2 =} [(2.N + l) .N]

Leql .Cant.ωr (N + l): D

We have seen that Leql can write

LI

^Leql- (l-Ll.Cl.ωr ² )

[Lant. (2.N + l)] ^eq (N + l). (2.N + ljμLant.Cant.ωr ²

using the relation (1), N checks

[Lant. (2.N + l)] [(2.N + l) .N] (N + l). (2.N + l) -Lant.Cant.ωr ² (N + l) .Cant. ωr ²

or: N. (N + l). (2.N + l) -2.N.Lant.Cant.ωr ² -Lant.Cant.ωr ² = 0

either: N ² + N- (Lant.Cant.ωr ² ) = 0

So: with Δ = (l + 4.Lant.Cant.ωr ² )

Thus, if we consider a transmitting antenna operating at 13.56 MHz, we can calculate the number of cuts to be made to obtain the series resonance of the antenna, we find: N = 3.444.

We can therefore take N = 3 or N = 4 cuts.

With N = 3, we can calculate the proportion of current flowing in the turns and of current dissipated by the capacity between turns:

a valuable inter-turn capacity

Cl = - C Cl = 1. 1017 x 10 -11

2.N + 1

a value inductance at the pulsation wr

Ll = - L Ll = 8.64 x 10 ^"

(N + lj the current passing through the turns is

IL = 0.611 (i.e. 61% of the total current in the antenna)

the current flowing in the inter-turn capacity is

IC = 0.389 (i.e. 39% of the total antenna current)

Claims

Antenna for transmitting and / or receiving electromagnetic waves (10) of the type comprising a wire arranged in a spiral in a plane, said spiral comprising at least two turns; said antenna being characterized in that it comprises at least one cutoff (12) in order to reduce the inter-turn capacity.

Transmitting and / or receiving antenna (10) according to claim 1, in which the wire arranged in a spiral has a length at least equal to a quarter of the wavelength of said electromagnetic waves.

Transmitting and / or receiving antenna according to claim 2, in which said cuts are also distributed so as to form equal portions of said wire on either side of each cut.

Transmitting and / or receiving antenna according to claim 3, comprising three equally distributed cuts.

Application of the antenna according to one of Claims 1 to 4, to the antenna of the reader in a contactless communication system in which a reader transmits electromagnetic signals to a portable object (card or ticket) so as to be able to identify the owner of said portable object when the latter transmits in return identification signals to said reader.

6. Application according to claim 5, wherein said contactless communication system is an access system to a controlled access area, in particular an access area to a public transport network.

7. Application according to claim 5 or 6, wherein said electromagnetic signals have a frequency of 13.56 MHz.